Heart, Time and Effort
by sweetkakes35
Summary: The closer it gets to Christmas, the more Allen is trying to avoid something. Lenalee and Lavi are going to get to the bottom of it. Allen birthday fic, shounen-ai.


A/N: So this story was written as a tribute to Allen on his birthday and was written in the span of 21 hours amidst cooking, cleaning, movies, and family time. All excuses as to why I'm posting it so late, but in reality, it's my fault. I had pretty much a whole week to write this but procrastination found me once again. So I hope you all enjoy! There has been barely any proofreading or editing at all so I apologize for any and all typos or just plain sucky parts. Btw, this is an Allen/Kanda shounen-ai pairing, something that anyone who knows me *coughmisskaoru83cough* can attest as my absolute favorite pairing. If you have any issues with that, please don't leave any negative comments.

Disclaimer: I'm sure you're all well aware that I don't own the Order or anyone housed in it…or out of it. But the Lavi/Lena/Allen/Kanda love expressed within are all mine (no, there is no Lavi/Lena).

Allen Walker made his way briskly down the halls of the Black Order. He wore his everyday clothes with only his Exorcist coat on top, making him as a blur of black, white, and a dash of red to anyone who took the time to look. Finders stared wide-eyed after him as he brushed past them in the halls and made his way toward the underground river leading to and from the Order, never having seen the boy in such a hurry.

Allen was in a hurry. Why was he in a hurry? Because he was late. As he dashed through the corridors he saw the people giving him surprised looks, but he couldn't take the time to stop and say hello to any of them. The one he did make time for, however, was Lenalee; the Chinese girl stopped him when he was near the doors and he _had_ to at least greet her.

"Good morning Allen," she smiled. "You seem to be in quite the rush."

"Good morning Lenalee. I'm on my way to town. One of the orphanages is doing a fundraiser so that they can get the necessities for the children, and maybe have enough left over for toys. I told them that I would help them out today, but I overslept."

"Ah," the dark-haired Exorcist nodded sagely. "Well then don't let me keep you. And have fun."

"Thanks Lenalee. I'll see you later." And with that, the cursed Exorcist made all haste to get to the town. Lenalee looked after him, wondering why this was the fourth promise to help out others that she had heard him make in the past few days. The first had been doing a circus promotion, followed by a charity soup kitchen, then helping the town cobbler with shoe deliveries, and finally, this orphanage fundraiser. It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with that, they just all lined up with a suspiciously increasing frequency the closer it got to Christmas day. Only three days remained and the female Exorcist was going to figure out what was going on.

~~~~break~~~~

The next day Lavi bounced into the cafeteria to find his favorite person to tease sitting behind a tower of plates and food scraps. He plopped down beside the younger Exorcist.

"Heya Allen. Good morning!" After recovering from being startled out of his food trance, Allen responded.

"Oh, good morning Lavi," and he went right back to shoveling fork after spoon into his mouth, however, such actions had never been known to deter a rabbit. A wide grin took over Lavi's face and a glint appeared in his emerald eye.

"So Allen, wanna hang out today? There's only two more days before Christmas and everyone's preparing something. I'm feeling a little left out since the old Panda won't really let me do anything to participate." His face seamlessly transitioned into puppy dog eyes. Allen eyed the older boy warily; he knew the redhead could easily have something planned that he did not want to have any part in. Seeing no reason to say no though, he nodded to the boy.

"I was going to help out one of the grocers in town that was a little understaffed today. You know, this time of year and all." A small smile came to the white haired boy's face as he shifted his eyes away from Lavi.

"You know Moyashi-chan, everyone's going to think you're avoiding them if you keep running off to town. Any special reason you keep going there?" Lavi grinned mischievously on the inside. Lenalee had paid him a special visit the previous night and mentioned her concerns about the young Exorcist. Between the two of them, they were going to get to the bottom of this. Besides, what did Lavi have that was better to do than invade his friend's lives? So this atypical reaction most definitely caught the redhead's attention.

"No, no reason. I'm just in the giving mood. It's the season, you know? Doesn't everyone want to help out others? I guess everyone just seems to catch me one after the oth-,"

"Allen, you're rambling. And twitching." The boy was most definitely twitching as his foot tapped the floor at a quick tempo.

"Ahahaha," a forced laugh. "You know what? I think I actually need to get to that grocer now. Nice talking with you Lavi." And by the time Lavi blinked, Allen was ever so gracefully running out the door.

Lavi stood and walked out of the cafeteria, stares of the curious diners wondering what the redhead could have said to make Allen run out so quickly. _Don't think it'll be that easy Moyashi-chan._

~~~~break~~~~

Allen's fingers fumbled as he tried to tie the apron strings to his uniform at the grocers. He had run all the way there from the Order and had arrived early, telling the owner that he was just really that eager to help. Lavi's question shouldn't have truly caught him off guard; with the way he'd been acting, surely someone was bound to ask. Even so, he had been surprised enough to get flustered and give away that there was some purpose to his constant tasks in town. And he knew better than to assume that his redheaded friend hadn't noticed. With a resigned sigh Allen finally made the knot and stepped into the front of the store.

"Heya Moyashi-chan! Guess where I'm working today? You said we could hang out." Lavi stood before him wearing an identical apron.

And Allen's heart stopped. He knew there was no way out of this.

~~~~break~~~~

Lenalee walked down the now festive halls of the Order on her way to take coffee to the science department. Even over the holidays there was still loads of work to be done. It was almost strange to her to walk by a training room and not hear the sounds of practice duels or individual training. It was strange to look in and see no one resting from a bout of exercise or learning from observing a match. It was strange to see Kanda sitting silently in a meditative stance in a far corner of the room…Lenalee did a double take. Sure enough, Kanda sat cross legged in the shadow of the far corner of the training room. That explained where he had been lately. No one had seen the moody samurai since most of the Christmas decorating and planning had begun. It made sense really: the man was not exactly the festive type. The girl placed the tray of re-energizing drinks on a nearby bench and walked over to the long-haired man, sinking down to sit beside him.

They sat like that for a while, Kanda quietly meditating and Lenalee sitting patiently beside him. Finally, after what must have been twenty minutes, Kanda addressed her. "What?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"I'm just wondering if you're really okay here by yourself Kanda," was the girl's soft reply. That got a frown out of the samurai.

"Tch. I'm perfectly fine by myself."

"You know Kanda, I'm aware that you don't really care for all the festivities but some of us would like to spend this time with you. You're one of our important comrades too." Kanda opened one eye to gaze at Lenalee. She smiled at him. Another 'tch' and he went back to his meditating. Having accomplished her purpose, the girl rose and left, grabbing the tray as she headed back up a few levels to get some fresh coffee, a knowing glint in her purple eyes.

~~~~break~~~~

"Lavi, there's no reason!" Allen yelled for the umpteenth time. He was getting sick of defending himself; the boy was like a dog with a bone. And of course the store owner was out picking up an order from the other side of town, in no position to come to his aid.

"Moyashi-chan, it sounds to me like you're just avoiding something…or someone! Are you purposely trying to stay away from someone?" Lavi grasped Allen's shoulders with both hands and shook him. "You gotta tell me!"

Allen tried to get the room to stop spinning. It was hours later and the redhead was showing no signs of letting up. When there was only one Lavi left he asked, "If I tell you, will you leave me alone and stop shaking me?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he stood back and made the crossing motion on his chest. Allen sighed.

"Fine. I'm avoiding Kanda." Lavi seemed confused for a moment.

"Why? I mean, it's holiday time so there's no way that grouch will even come out of whatever hole he's made. You don't have to worry about that Moyashi-chan." Allen glanced away nervously.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe you could say that I'm trying to avoid the atmosphere of Christmas then." Lavi gave this some serious thought before tilting his head to the side in lack of understanding.

"Why?"

"Lavi, I don't want to have this conversation." Allen tried to get back to work by turning back to the front of the store but sadly found there to be a lull in the rush of customers. Determinedly, he began to wipe down the counters and clean the glass on the displays. Lavi followed behind him as he moved around the store, arms folded behind his head.

"Ne, you still haven't explained _why_ you're avoiding the atmosphere. Most people get excited around this time of year. You don't want that?" Lavi asked curiously. Allen paused in his furious wiping at a stubborn smudge on the glass. He answered without turning to face the man behind him.

"I-I _do _want that, just…"

"Just what?" the older man prodded.

"Just-," A loud bang radiated throughout the room as the owner burst through the front door, large crate blocking most of him from view.

"Hey you two, I'm back. Thanks for minding the store for me while I got that." Lavi had a disappointed look on his face that disappeared in an instant, followed by a welcoming smile.

"Do you need some help with that?" he offered the owner.

"Ah, yes. That would be appreciated." And Lavi helped the man heave the crate the rest of the way into the back. Allen stood there relieved. Two men and four women walked into the store and he was immediately taken over once more by helping customers.

~~~~break~~~~

Allen pulled the door to the grocer shut behind him as both he and Lavi left for the night. The redhead turned to him.

"Well that was fulfilling, wouldn't you say?" The boy hadn't brought up one word of what they had talked about earlier since the owner came back. He nodded in response.

"So Moyashi-chan, are you going to elaborate on what you said earlier?"

Damn. And he'd thought he'd gotten out of that. "No."

"Tsk tsk, Moyashi-chan. It'll be a long walk home then," Lavi threatened. The unfortunate part was that it worked. If he didn't give the older boy a substantial answer, he would make the long walk a living hell, just like working with him had been. He sighed as he tried to decide how to explain himself.

"One of the main points of Christmas is to be around others, those you care about, family and friends, and spend time with them. You give gifts and eat food, just talk and enjoy each other's company."

Lavi waited. Was this about Mana then? "So…?"

"It's extremely sad when you want to do those things with someone and they don't really care to, especially when you're so close to them everyday." Allen kicked his foot against the ground and walked ahead of Lavi whose eyes had widened by the end of his friend's little speech.

"Wait a minute, does this mean what I think it does?" the redhead asked. Allen didn't look back at him but nodded. "You like Kanda?" A pause, then a quick nod. The younger boy began to walk even faster. Lavi jogged a bit to catch up. From the side he could see the soft blush dusting Allen's face. "And you're avoiding him because you want to spend time with him but you know that he wouldn't ever want to do that?" Another sharp nod. It seemed he had used up his ability to speak about the subject. Lavi went quiet and Allen finally twisted around to see the other man facing the night sky. He was surprised that Lavi hadn't teased him yet; he had thought that would be the older boy's first reaction.

After a while of silence he asked, "What Lavi?" The boy turned to him, a serious look in his eyes.

"Allen, everyone deserves to be happy on a day like Christmas, especially you." Allen's eyes widened at that and he didn't know what to say. The two stayed in step and in their own thoughts all the way back to the Black Order, both pondering a different friend.

~~~~break~~~~

"Lavi, what is it? Why did you have to drag me off so quickly after breakfast?" Lenalee tried to question the redhead boy who had a grip on her wrist and was presently jerking her toward the library.

"Just come on Lena. I figured out what Allen's up to; don't you want to know?" Lavi bribed. Purple eyes lit up.

"Oh really? You have to tell me Lavi!" Lavi finally slowed to a brisk walk and let go of the girl's wrist, a wide grin taking over his face and a sparkle in his lone, green eye.

"Only if you promise to help me with a plan to help him after I tell you." That took her by surprise. Considering she could tell that Allen was avoiding something in all his efforts, it only made sense that there be some sort of problem. Lavi just seemed to be cautiously approaching this issue. She was sure the redhead knew that she'd be willing to do anything to help a friend, so the request in itself was odd.

"Sure Lavi." He smiled at her before pulling her the last few feet into the library. They found a secluded back corner with a table and sat down. "Okay, so spill."

At this, Lavi lit up with energy. "You never would have guessed Lena. It seems our little Moyashi has a crush!" Lenalee's mind instantly flew through all possible candidates and came up empty, unless it was a Finder that she didn't know.

"Who is it?" she asked. The boy seemed to be ecstatic to tell her as he bounced out of his seat to stand right in front of her.

"Hehehe. That would be the Black Order's very own resident, perpetually pissed, fatally graceful, emotionless wall of a beautiful samurai."

"Allen likes Kanda?" Lenalee shot up.

"Shhh! We don't want to broadcast this to everyone now do we?" Lavi calmed the girl and they both sat back down. "So here's the deal…"Lavi recounted what Allen had told him the night before. "I want to do something for him to get him to at least have his Christmas wish."

Lenalee could tell that the boy was taking this matter extremely seriously. "Of course I would do anything I can to help Lavi. Did you have any particular plan in mind?"

"Nope! My plan was to ask you," and with that, the boy sat back in his chair and settled in for some serious thought. Not just anything could win over Kanda. Lenalee stood up, looking ready to go.

"Well at the very least I can talk to Kanda."

"What will you say?" Lavi asked. The girl paused for a moment, a frown marring her face.

"I'm not really sure." With that, she left the young Bookman Jr. in his corner of the library and made her way to a shadowed corner of a specific training room.

~~~~break~~~~

Lavi sat in silence in the library. He was determined to make Allen have a happy memory of this Christmas. He, more so than most other people in the Order, knew what that white-haired boy had been through: all the fights and battles, both physical and emotional. He had seen the amount of heart and effort and time that Allen would expend to accomplish a goal that someone would later tell him was meaningless or not worthwhile. As much as he wasn't supposed to form bonds to those around him, Lavi hadn't been able to help becoming friends with the youngest Exorcist, and for these reasons, he wanted to put all of his effort, time, and what remained of his heart, into giving him this chance to be happy on his birthday. Unfortunately, he didn't know much when it came to forming true relationships considering he had never really had one. Hopefully whatever Lenalee said to Kanda would be enough.

~~~~break~~~~

"What do you want this time?" Lenalee considered this an accomplishment; it had only taken fifteen minutes this time for Kanda to answer her.

"Kanda, tomorrow is Christmas. What are you planning on doing for the day?" she asked quietly.

"Tch, what do you mean? I will do the same things that I always do. Just because everyone else wants to throw a party and act like fools doesn't mean I have to participate."

Lenalee knew that it could never be that easy. This was Kanda after all. "But if you have some time off, what is something that you would find relaxing and enjoy doing?" she prodded. Kanda opened his eyes and stared at her, analyzing, before reclosing them and answering.

"I like to read." Somehow this didn't surprise the female Exorcist. She had seen Kanda take a book with him on missions before or steal quick moments into the library on occasion. After all, there had to be something to balance out all that anger and frustration that he held on to.

"Kanda, do you remember what I said to you yesterday?" The samurai opened one eye in response. "What if it was only a few of us instead of a party? We could sit in one of the lounges and just enjoy the time spent together." At this, Kanda finally broke out of his meditative pose to turn and look at Lenalee.

"Who exactly have you decided will come?" Lenalee laughed inside; at least he was smart enough to catch on.

"I was thinking of just you, me, Allen, Lavi, and Marie. Unless, of course, there was someone else you wanted to come."

Kanda glared at the list before gritting out, "Marie is on a mission for the next four days, and there is no way in hell that I will have any peace around that baka usagi, so no." Lenalee noted that Kanda had made no comment whatsoever about Allen being there.

"Come on Kanda. I know that I would like you to be there, and Allen would want you there too." She wasn't sure if she should have added that last part but figured that she might as well get a measure of where Kanda's opinion of Allen stood. She was rather taken aback to see Kanda shift his gaze downward awkwardly. This might have just gotten a whole lot easier than she had anticipated.

"And why should I care about any of that?" Lenalee just smiled widely.

"We'll be in the lounge near the north tower Kanda, about an hour after the party starts. I hope to see you there," and with that, the girl stood up gracefully and exited the room, leaving Kanda to wonder how she was the only person who could manipulate him. He had a feeling that whether or not he wanted to, he'd be at that get-together. Well, the list wasn't all bad anyway.

~~~~break~~~~

Allen paused at a crossway in the deserted halls of the Order while trying his best to make is way to the north tower without getting lost. For some reason, when it came to leaving the Order he could always find his way, but going from one place to another on the inside seemed to be forever beyond him. Anyone he could have asked for directions was at the Christmas party that was being held in the cafeteria. He wasn't sure why, but Lenalee had been strangely insistent that he and Lavi go to the north tower after about an hour of being at the party to hang out together, and thus, his current situation.

"Ah, Moyachi-chan!" Allen turned around to meet the voice. Lavi walked toward him, a spring in his step. He seemed a little too happy to be safe for anyone else. "Let me guess: you're lost." A hot blush rose to the younger boy's face as he frowned. He had long ago given up on denying it when he got lost, but still had the decency to be embarrassed when it happened.

"Well I couldn't have been too far off if you're here too," he mumbled. Lavi wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulder and spun him to the left before beginning to walk.

"Well, if you were planning on going down the hall that you were staring at a moment ago, it may have taken you a while to make it to the tower." Allen threw off Lavi's arm as his blush got even darker.

"Let's just go. At least I'm not at the party." The redhead frowned at him.

"Why didn't you want to be at the party Allen?" he asked, completely serious. Allen sighed.

"You remember what we talked about on the way home the other night? Being around everyone else just makes me remember it even more." It was with this statement that Lavi realized a mistake that he had made. He had thought Allen had a _crush_ on Kanda. This seemed to be on its way to much more than a crush, if it wasn't there already.

"Well, hopefully we can cheer you up some tonight Allen." The white-haired boy smiled.

"Thanks Lavi. I appreciate the effort. And don't take any of what I'm saying to mean that I don't want to be around you guys or anything. It's just…" A hand came down as a hard slap on his back.

"No worries Moyashi-chan! I understand. So let's go and meet Lenalee."

The two walked down the hall, taking a so many turns that Allen was really glad that Lavi was with him because he was sure he wouldn't have made it on his own. He wasn't even sure how he was going to make it back to his room. As they walked into the lounge they found Lenalee fluffing the pillow of the armchair she sat in. There were more chairs and couches spread around the few tables that littered the room. She looked up when she saw them.

"Hey you two!" Lenalee smiled happily as they sat down around her.

"Hello Lenalee. I see you made it out of the bustle downstairs," Allen commented.

"Yeah, I did."

"So why exactly did you invite the two of us up here?" he asked.

"Oh, I just thought we could all use a bit of a break from the party." Allen had seen this girl party for hours on end so he found this a little suspicious. "Anyway, why don't we play a board game to pass the time?" The other two nodded and they debated for a while before finally deciding on a game.

An hour later Lenalee was beginning to worry that Kanda wouldn't show up. She knew that it wasn't positive that he would, but if she had read the signs right, she thought that the fact that Allen was there would have made the difference. Half an hour later, she was about to give up, when none other but the Order's stoic samurai appeared at the door. He wore a comfortable looking sweater and his hair was down. There was a book gripped in his hand and he didn't look at anyone in the room until he had chosen a seat and curled up in it, book in hand. He gave them all a quick glance of "don't anyone say a single word" before opening his book and starting to read.

Lavi observed Allen's face and smiled inside when the boy went from shock at seeing Kanda in the doorway, to absolutely glowing at the prospect of Kanda willingly choosing to share a room with the lot of them in peace. The three went back to their board game, talking and laughing in between, until Allen finally got up and stood in front of the quietly reading samurai.

"Kanda," he called, a warm, beautiful glow on his face. Kanda met his eyes over his book in question. "Merry Christmas." And with a return grunt from Kanda, Allen brightly sat back down for a round of storytelling and a night that he would truly remember.

~~~~break~~~~

A/N: To anyone reading my other fic "Through Your Eyes" I want to let you know that I have not died but that due to the fact that most of my other chapters were prewritten and I have managed to catch up to myself, there will definitely be some more time between updates.


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